An investigation is underway into a 14-year-old African girl's miscarriage in an Irish hospital last year
Photo by: Stock

A 14-year-old African girl’s miscarriage in an Irish hospital last year is being investigated after allegations that the girl may have been raped by her father, and that her father may have fed her a “witch doctor potion” to abort the pregnancy.

The Irish Examiner reports that the 14-year-old is a native of Africa but was living in Dublin with her father, an immigrant, at the time of the incident.

The girl was driven to Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry, County Down, by her father during her miscarriage. Gardaí are investigating why the girl was taken to a hospital in the North, noting that staff in a Dublin hospital might have notified the police.

Investigations are being conducted as to what the “abortion potion” may have been. It is believed the father obtained the “potion” from a member of the African community, though police aren’t saying what country the father and daughter are originally from.

A police spokesman said, “We are investigating an incident of alleged sexual assault and are liaising very closely with other state agencies involved, as well as the PSNI and international police colleagues via Interpol.”

It is understood the preserved foetus has been transferred to gardaí. Tests can be carried out now to determine if fluid was used to terminate the pregnancy, as well as who is the father of the unborn child.

The Irish Independent reports that a Blanchardstown, Dublin relative of the girl first tipped off police of the incident that occurred early last year, saying that the pregnant girl had been given a dangerous cocktail of chemicals which may have triggered her miscarriage. The relative told police that her father had taken her to the North to avoid arrest.

While the father has not been arrested yet for the allegations, the girl is understood to be in the care of the HSE.